Vertical flywheels
Vertical flywheels are a type of heavy rotating weapon which first became prominent in later series of Robot Wars. The first robot to be equipped with such a weapon was Torque of the Devil in Series 1, while the most successful UK Series competitors to be equipped with one include fourth-place finishers X-Terminator (Series 7) and Aftershock (Series 9), Series 5-6 Semi-Finalist S3 and Battle of the Stars co-champion Kadeena Machina. House Robot Matilda was also equipped with a rear-mounted vertical flywheel from Series 5/Extreme 1 onwards, replacing her chainsaw in the UK Series and being made interchangeable with it in Robot Wars: Extreme Warriors and Nickelodeon Robot Wars. Whilst vertical flywheels were not as common or initially as famous as their horizontal counterparts in the UK Series, robots with this weapon type also enjoyed considerable success in international versions of Robot Wars. Dutch Series 2 Champion PulverizeR and German Series champion Black Hole were both equipped with these flywheels, as was US competitor Cyclone, which won the Annihilator in the second season of Extreme Warriors. They also enjoyed some success in the lower weight categories, with Argh! winning the Extreme 2 Featherweight Championship by using a vertical flywheel to devastating effect. Definition *A ' flywheel' is a comparatively heavy spinning disc weapon that spins at high speeds. To cause damage, one or more "teeth" are welded onto or integrated into certain places along the disc's circumference, in order to gouge and tear large sections off of opponent's armour or destroy vital components. *Compared to the horizontal flywheel, these flywheels are mounted vertically, and are intended to strike the bottom edges and sides of other robots. Advantages and Disadvantages Advantages *Like the horizontal type, vertical flywheels are capable of inflicting substantial amounts of damage to their opponents, tearing into and ripping off sections of armour plating as well as destroying their chassis, wheels and weapons. S3, PulverizeR, 259, Cyclone, Black Hole, Kadeena Machina and Aftershock are among the most prominent examples. *Vertical flywheels can also double as flipping weapons. Most robots equipped with them - famously 259 and Aftershock - are capable of throwing opponents over as well as damaging them at the same time. **Some are even capable of throwing other robots out of the arena, as demonstrated by Matilda, Cyclone, the Series 7 version of X-Terminator and the Series 10 iteration of Big Nipper. *They often target the underside of a robot, usually considered its weakest point, allowing for maximum damage to its chassis and wheels/tracks. S3 particularly destroyed Plunderbird 5's chassis, armour and wheel mounts during its first ever battle, and Kadeena Machina was able to shred Dee's wheel off. *Vertical flywheels also deliver more powerful blows for the same amount of stored kinetic energy as their horizontal counterparts, as robots equipped with them are braced by contact with the arena floor when they hit opponents. This enabled robots such as 259, Kadeena Machina and Aftershock to remain stable even while making repeated attacks on their opponents. *They are especially effective against robots equipped with wedges and flippers, effectively neutralising them by buckling the wedge/flipper plate and rendering them unable to negotiate the wielder's ground clearance. X-Terminator demonstrated this in its Series 7 Semi-Final fights against St. Agro and Bulldog Breed. *Very rarely, this type of flywheel can also double as a self-righting mechanism, being able to 'kick' robots back onto their wheels if the flywheel hits the arena floor or walls. Aftershock was the only Robot Wars competitor to demonstrate this capability. *If a robot wielding a vertical flywheel is thrown upside-down, the flywheel is still capable of causing damage to nearby opponents if it lands weapon-first on them. Aftershock and Big Nipper, for example, were still able to damage Eruption with their discs as they landed on top of the latter during their Series 9 Grand Final Group Battle and Series 10 Heat Semi-Final respectively. Disadvantages *Vertical flywheels are often hard to combine with invertible designs except for axlebots, especially larger ones like those used by 259 or Cyclone. This often meant that a robot with this weapon type either required an additional srimech (e.g. Cedric Slammer) or had to adopt smaller flywheels (e.g. Black Hole, the Series 8 and 10 incarnations of Big Nipper). *Also, the weapon's effectiveness can often be decreased when inverted, due to many flywheels spinning in only one direction. This problem especially affected Black Hole in its European Championship battle against Philipper 2, with its discs spinning towards the ground once the robot was flipped over and causing it to jump upwards upon striking Philipper 2's armour. *Vertical flywheels have a narrower attack range than their horizontal counterparts, limiting their precision. Black Hole circumvented this through using two flywheels attached to the same axle, each mounted on either side of the machine. *The gyroscopic forces of a vertical flywheel can adversely affect the robot's manoeuvrability, making it difficult for it to turn when the weapon is spinning. Additionally, they could also lift the robot up onto one side or even cause it to overturn when turning left or right. Though commonly displayed by more modern spinners such as Kadeena Machina, Aftershock, Pulsar and the Series 10 version of Big Nipper, early instances of this happened to Matilda during the first heats of German Robot Wars and the Extreme 2 New Blood Championship, as well as Black Hole in its aforementioned European Championship battle. List of Robots with Vertical Flywheels Robots are listed alphabetically. Robots which are not heavyweight entries are listed with a green background. House Robots are listed with a yellow background. References Category:Weapon Types Category:Robots with Vertical Flywheels